Under 14s off the boil

Due to pitch congestion the Under 14s yet again had a fixture changed to an away match and it seemed as though the time spent travelling may have disrupted the team. Despite starting brightly and being on top for the opening ten minutes individual errors led to an unfortunate own goal, gifting Dover Rangers the lead. This seemed to knock the wind out of Whitstable's sails and Dover took control for the next twenty minutes. Five minutes before half time Dover scored again, passing through the Whitstable defence and giving the goalkeeper no chance. Immediately from the kick off the ball reached Jacob Couzens who spotted the run of Stanley Griffiths and put the ball beyond the defence. Stanley collected, beat the last defender and finished expertly, giving Whitstable a boost at half time.
After the break the match continued to be evenly balanced but with few clear chances for either team. With about 15 minutes to go a long throw by Kobey Love into the Dover penalty box caused confusion and Stanley Griffiths remained calm to slot home his - and the team's - second. The match played out with chances at either end but Dover having the better opportunities. A wonder save in the top right corner by Theo Bentley-Hussey kept Whitstable in the game towards the end but, in truth, it was a game neither team deserved to lose.
The Whitstable boys worked hard for the whole game but lacked a bit of composure on the ball this week. Ball retention was below recent high standards, too. However, there is no doubting the effort put in by the team which ultimately meant they came away with something to show for their determination.